1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to communications systems, and in particular, to a super regenerative (SR) apparatus including a plurality of SR amplifiers coupled in parallel and respectively tuned to distinct frequency bands.
2. Background
In the past, communications systems that receive information via ultra-wide band (UWB) channels employ receivers generally consisting of one or more cascaded linear amplifiers. However, when such receivers operate at a frequency range of, for example, several GHz or above, the one or more cascaded linear amplifiers generally consume a substantial amount of power. This may make this receiver architecture undesirable for low power applications, where the power source has a limited continued-use life, such as a battery.
Another drawback with the conventional UWB receiver is that the one or more cascaded linear amplifiers are typically not well suited to reject out-of-band jamming signals. Because of this drawback, conventional UWB receivers typically employ a band pass filter (BPF) between an antenna and the input of the one or more cascaded amplifiers, to reduce or eliminate out-of-band jamming signals. Generally, the BPF may be complicated in order to achieve the desired out-of-band rejection in order to effectively reduce or eliminate out-of-band jamming signals. This has the adverse consequences of increasing the costs associated with conventional UWB receivers. Furthermore, conventional UWB receivers including the one or more cascaded linear amplifiers are generally incapable of effectively reducing or eliminating in-band jamming signals.